Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., holds a news conference in the Mansfield Room in the U.S. Capitol on Monday, December 1, 2025.
Bill Clark | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The Pentagon will cut the military retirement pay of Sen. Mark Kelly for what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the Arizona Democrat’s “seditious” statements on a video with other members of Congress telling service members they have the right to refuse to execute illegal orders.
Hegseth also issued a formal letter of censure against Kelly, which the Defense secretary said details “reckless misconduct” by the retired Navy captain and astronaut.
Hegesth said the Defense Department has begun a proceeding aimed at reducing Kelly’s rank in retirement, which would in turn lead to a decrease in retirement pay.
“Six weeks ago, Senator Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline,” Hegseth said in a statement on X.
“As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice. And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice,” Hegseth said.
Kelly has 30 days to file a response to the decision to cut his rank and retirement pay, according to Hegseth’s tweet.
The Pentagon in November announced a probe of Kelly for his involvement with the video, and said that further actions could include a recall to active duty and a court-martial proceeding.
Hegeth’s statement on Monday suggests that the Pentagon has ruled out that more severe option.
But, in his tweet, Hegseth warned, “Captain Kelly’s status as a sitting United States Senator does not exempt him from accountability, and further violations could result in further action.”
Kelly, in a statement on X, vowed to fight the disciplinary action “with everything I’ve got,” and called Hegseth “the most unqualified Secretary of Defense in our country’s history.”
“Over twenty-five years in the U.S. Navy, thirty-nine combat missions, and four missions to space, I risked my life for this country and to defend our Constitution – including the First Amendment rights of every American to speak out,” Kelly wrote. “I never expected that the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense would attack me for doing exactly that.”
“My rank and retirement are things that I earned through my service and sacrifice for this country. I got shot at. I missed holidays and birthdays. I commanded a space shuttle mission while my wife Gabby recovered from a gunshot wound to the head– all while proudly wearing the American flag on my shoulder,” Kelly wrote. “Generations of servicemembers have made these same patriotic sacrifices for this country, earning the respect, appreciation, and rank they deserve.
“Pete Hegseth wants to send the message to every single retired servicemember that if they say something he or Donald Trump doesn’t like, they will come after them the same way,” the senator said. “It’s outrageous and it is wrong. There is nothing more un-American than that.”
The video that Kelly spoke on was made in response to the U.S. military conducting 20 airstrikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean against purported drug smugglers, killing scores of people.
The legality of those strikes, which were made without authorization from Congress, has been questioned.
In the video, which was posted on X on Nov. 18, Kelly says, “Our laws are clear: you can refuse illegal orders.”
The five other Democratic members of Congress who delivered similar messages on the same video are Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, House Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, both of Pennsylvania.
Slotkin is a former CIA analyst. Deluzio and Goodlander are former Navy officers, and Houlahan is a former Air Force officer.
But unlike Kelly, the other three veterans on the video separated from their service branches rather than retiring from them. As a result, they are not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, as Kelly is.
Hegseth, in his statement on Monday, said about the Pentagon’s move to discipline Kelly: “These actions are based on Captain Kelly’s public statements from June through December 2025 in which he characterized lawful military operations as illegal and counseled members of the Armed Forces to refuse lawful orders.”
“This conduct was seditious in nature and violated Articles 133 and 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, to which Captain Kelly remains subject as a retired officer receiving pay,” Hegseth said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned the Pentagon’s action on Monday.
“Mark Kelly is a hero and a patriot committed to serving the American people,” Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a tweet responding to Hegseth.
“Pete Hegseth is a lap dog committed to serving one man – Donald Trump. This is a despicable act of political retribution,” Schumer wrote. “I stand with Sen. Kelly, who will always do the right thing no matter the consequences.”
